Harbin Institute of Technology's technological achievements transformation breaks the international blockade on super-insulating materials. "Elmer" completes tens of millions of yuan in angel round financing | Exclusive report by 36Kr
Text | Zhang Bingbing
Editor | A Zhi
36Kr learned that Suzhou Elmer Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Elmer") recently announced the completion of tens of millions of yuan in angel - round financing. The investors are Nachuan Capital, Shaanxi Financial Holding, Wuzhong Financial Holding, and Suzhou Taiwang. The funds will be mainly used for product R & D and capacity expansion.
"Elmer" was established in August 2024, relying on Harbin Institute of Technology for achievement transformation. Its main product is a new type of flexible nano - ceramic fiber super - insulating material, which has advantages in terms of heat insulation, thermal stability, flexibility, and lightness, and can be applied in fields such as high - temperature kilns, new energy batteries, and aerospace.
The core technology of "Elmer" comes from the team of Professor Xu Xiang of Harbin Institute of Technology. It has assembled a R & D team covering experts of the Thousand - Talents Program, national young talents, and doctors. The product system is independently developed with complete independent intellectual property rights, breaking the international import blockade of super - insulating materials. In the field of thermal equipment, it has signed tens of millions of yuan in intention orders with leading enterprises.
I. Break through the problem of force - heat mutual exclusion and improve the comprehensive performance of super - insulating materials
Super - insulating materials refer to a class of advanced materials that can still achieve extremely high - efficiency heat insulation performance in extreme temperature environments. The core is to maximally prevent heat transfer under conditions of ultra - high temperature (above 1000°C), ultra - low temperature, or severe thermal shock, thereby protecting key components or systems.
The force - heat mutual exclusion is a common problem for super - insulating materials. Simply put, the load - bearing strength requires a fine and strong skeleton structure inside the material, but the heat - insulation effect depends on a large number of nano - scale voids inside the material, and it is difficult to meet both requirements simultaneously. In terms of material application, traditional insulating materials such as aerogels generally have problems such as insufficient thermal stability, short service life, and low energy efficiency.
The new flexible nano - ceramic fiber super - insulating material of "Elmer" has made breakthroughs in both mechanics and thermodynamics. "If we only consider a single performance, we may not be the best. However, the combination of flexibility, low thermal conductivity, durability, and lightness constitutes the unique characteristics of our material." General Manager Jiang Hui of "Elmer" took the 1400 - type ceramic aerogel material as an example to specifically introduce the improvement of application performance brought by these characteristics:
Flexibility is reflected in the deformation ability of the material. In high - temperature environments, sealing is emphasized. At positions such as corners, limited by the deformation ability of the material, the sealing performance is often poor. The 1400 - type ceramic aerogel material of "Elmer" can achieve 95% compression, 50% stretching, and 360° bending and torsion, improving the sealing effect, making it easier to control the equipment temperature, and thus increasing the production yield.
A low thermal conductivity means outstanding heat - insulation performance. For example, in the high - temperature kilns in the thermal equipment field, as time passes, the surface temperature of the kiln will gradually increase, and heat loss will lead to a sharp increase in energy consumption. The thermal conductivity of the 1400 - type ceramic aerogel material of "Elmer" is <0.1W/mK at a high temperature of 1000°C, which means less heat loss from the kiln surface, effectively reducing energy consumption and saving costs.
Durability corresponds to the service life of the material. The 1400 - type ceramic aerogel material of "Elmer" can be used at 1400°C for a short time and at 1200°C for a long time. "The long - term use of some products on the market is measured in hours, while our long - term use is measured in years. The use temperature and use time are our absolute advantages." Jiang Hui summarized.
In terms of lightness, the density of the 1400 - type ceramic aerogel material is 10 - 100 mg/cm³. In weight - sensitive fields such as aerospace, it can effectively reduce the product weight while ensuring the heat - insulation effect.
The new flexible nano - ceramic fiber super - insulating material of "Elmer"
Based on the above advantages, "Elmer" has won awards such as the first batch of Dongwu Science and Technology Leading Talents in 2025, the third prize in the National Finals of the 10th "Maker China" Small and Medium - sized Enterprise Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, and the second prize in the start - up group of the National Competition of the 14th China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition in the new materials field.
Currently, the 1400 - type ceramic aerogel material of "Elmer" has passed the verification of some customers and entered the industrialization stage. The 1600 - type (with a use temperature of 1600°C) and 1800 - type (with a use temperature of 1800°C) products have completed the technical reserve and are gradually optimizing the process. Jiang Hui introduced that according to the plan, "Elmer" will mainly promote the 1400 - type product in the next two years. After completing market penetration, it will gradually develop the application scenarios of the 1600 - type and 1800 - type products.
II. Solve the pain points of "cost reduction and efficiency improvement" and focus on three major fields to promote market transformation
Super - insulating materials with outstanding performance were first applied in fields such as aerospace, with product performance as the core consideration. To promote scientific research and technological achievements to the commercial market, it is also necessary to improve the comprehensive competitiveness in terms of technology, price, etc.
Jiang Hui believes that different from doing scientific research, the current technology iteration cycle is short. Market customers not only pursue the optimal performance in a single direction but also need to match their own product directions and consider comprehensive factors such as cost. Therefore, the transformation of scientific research achievements must start from customer needs, verify the achievements in practical applications, and achieve industrialization.
In terms of price, Jiang Hui introduced that the cost of using "Elmer" materials may be 20% - 30% higher than that of other materials. However, customers calculate the long - term "economic account". The improvement of material performance can solve the core pain points of increasing the yield and reducing costs. For example: "Our customers in the glass industry calculated the effect of thermal kilns. Due to the increase in yield and the reduction in energy consumption, they can recover the additional investment within half a year. The overall service life of the product is calculated based on 4 - 5 years. So for customers, the later returns are particularly obvious."
The production line of "Elmer"
In terms of market expansion, "Elmer" mainly focuses on three major fields: industrial thermal engineering, aerospace, and new energy for business transformation:
In the field of industrial thermal engineering, "Elmer" products are mainly applied in the high - temperature area of industrial kilns, replacing the original insulation materials to reduce energy consumption and extend the service life of kilns. From the perspective of market transformation, the product verification cycle of thermal equipment is short, and the precision is lower than that in fields such as aerospace. As the preferred market for commercial order transformation, it has currently cooperated with leading enterprises in the industry and signed tens of millions of yuan in intention orders.
In the aerospace field, "Elmer" products have been applied to the core safety components of a certain type of thruster and successfully passed the verification, which can reduce the weight of a single satellite by more than 1 kg, effectively improving the performance of spacecraft. In the future, it plans to cooperate with aerospace research institutions and universities, provide materials for testing and verification in new scenarios, and jointly complete the performance iteration of products.
In the new energy field, the 1 - 2mm ultra - thin flexible sheet form of "Elmer" products can be applied to the thermal insulation safety components of new energy vehicle batteries. When a thermal runaway occurs in the battery pack, it can effectively suppress the spread of fire. The actual test shows that the open fire will be extinguished within 2 minutes after the explosion of the soft - pack battery cell, and adjacent cells will not burn or explode. It will focus on promoting product iteration in fields such as high - end power batteries and high - density aircraft batteries.
In July 2025, the first production line of "Elmer" was put into operation, with an annual production capacity of about 1200㎡ and an output value of about 6 million yuan. The new production line is expected to be put into operation next year, and the production capacity will reach about five times the current level. On the premise of capacity improvement and market expansion, "Elmer" expects to achieve tens of millions of yuan in revenue and positive profits next year and hundreds of millions of yuan in revenue in 2027.
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This article is from the WeChat public account "36Kr Future Industries". Author: Zhang Bingbing, A Zhi. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.